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FORT CARSON, Colo.—A pilot killed when his firefighting plane crashed during a wildfire at Fort Carson reported a series of maydays and said “I’m going down,” seconds after dropping retardant near the Army post in Colorado.
That’s according to a preliminary investigation report by the National Transportation Safety Board into the crash that killed 42-year-old Gert Marais of Fort Benton, Mont., on April 15.
The report does not say what caused the crash but gives a preliminary description of what happened that day.
It says gusts were reported at about 35 to 45 mph.
Marais’ single-engine air tanker, registered to Aero-Applicators Inc. in Sterling in Colorado, had been summoned from Sterling to help with fire suppression.
